


A nudge and a shove

by Redclaire999



Category: NCIS
Genre: Ellick Friends Challenge, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Kasie is epic!, Social Anxiety, Tumblr Prompt, Week 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25976005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redclaire999/pseuds/Redclaire999
Summary: A nudge, a shove or even a stun gun!Kasie has a plan and she isn't afraid to use every tool in her arsenal.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop & Nick Torres, Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	A nudge and a shove

**Author's Note:**

> I threw in some of the Tumblr prompts too!  
> Fluff  
> #13 'God, you're so beautiful'  
> #18 ' I think it's adorable how easily you blush'  
> Angst  
> #22 'Why would you think something like that?'  
> Smut  
> #10 'I like it when you say my name like that'

‘Nick! I need your help with Bishop!’ she blurted urgently down the phone. She knew that would get his immediate attention.

‘ _What_? What’s wrong with Bishop, Kase, is she ok?’ she could hear the instant panic in his voice.

‘She’s freaking out here in my lab, an anxiety attack’, it was true, _totally_ not lying even if the rest of her plan relied on fibs, skulduggery and potentially strong-arming.

‘I’m on my way’. She could just hear him running and impatiently hammering at something metallic, probably the lift call button just before he hung up.

Now all she had to do was wait.

‘Bishop, you ok in there?’ Kasie called through the slammed shut ladies room door.

‘I feel _ridiculous_ Kasie!’ she shouted back through what sounded like gritted teeth. This scenario was not in Kasie’s original plan but with some quick thinking she had re-jigged and adapted her strategy and was now working firmly on ‘plan B’.

‘You are being a _teeny little_ bit ridiculous but it’s _totally_ understandable’ she used her ‘calm a skittish animal’ voice, trying her best to placate the über-anxious blonde behind the door.

She just heard the ding of the elevator when Nick sprinted into the lab before the automatic doors were even fully open.

_Man, he was quick!_

‘Ellie! Are you ok?’ he hollered out, his eyes rapidly casing the room for danger or damage, but then noticing Kasie at the bathroom door, shushing him and indicating with both hands to calm it down, he grimaced awkwardly and tiptoed over.

‘What happened? Is she sick?’ he hissed at Kasie, concern written all over his face.

‘No, not sick, just having a nervous meltdown, over-thinking stuff until boom!’ she hand-signalled a brain bomb, explosion sound effects and all.

‘Have you tried the chocolate with the honeycomb bits in, or maybe an apple strudel muffin? That worked the other day when she was being all, you know, ‘Bishopy’ about that translation she was working on’ he suggested helpfully, theatrically doing a crazy, arm-waving, finger-wiggling interpretation of ‘Bishopy’.

It was cute he knew her favourite comfort treats and it confirmed what she was already damn sure of and all, but time was running out. She was already at the stage of considering moving on to her ‘plan C’ tactic of a hostile take out and use of a stun gun.

‘She took a giant bag of M&Ms and a multipack of Kit-Kats with her when she went in there, I think she’s good for candy!’ she wryly whispered back then clearing her throat she tapped on the door lightly. ‘Bishop? Torres is here, come on, talk it out with him’ she pleaded reasonably squinting her eyes, waiting for the outburst she knew was coming

‘You ratted me out to _Nick_!! _Kasie_!!’ she squealed in horror, then there was name-calling in several languages, her voice pushing up through the octaves until only dogs could hear her.

‘Relax Bishop, just breathe! No passing out, ok?’ Kasie looked from the door to Nick, assessing his size and strength, and reckoned he could bust it down if it came to that. He read what she was doing and tensed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

‘Ok, someone tell me what the _hell_ is going on, cos you guys are scaring the shit out of me!’ Nick growled, like actually growled!

‘Bishop? Are you going to tell him or am I?’ There was no reply from behind the door, ‘ok then I’m telling him!’

She could hear Ellie grumbling and cursing like a pirate from within the toilet, angry Bishop was _way_ better than white-faced about ready to collapse Bishop.

‘Ok so, Bishop has been working on a pet project, FOR TWO YEARS,’ she shouted loud enough for her to hear. ‘She developed an ingenious cypher programme to decrypt Pashto geographical slang, idioms and regional numerical anomalies’ Nick’s eyes glazed over a bit at the technicalities, so she moved on to the crux of the problem. ‘It’s of _huge_ benefit to various intelligence agencies, CIA, NSA, DOD… anyhow, she’s getting presented the National Intelligence Meritorious Award at a gala tonight only she WON’T COME OUT OF THE BATHROOM!’ she boomed in frustration.

‘Wow, that sounds important’ he puffed out his cheeks and blew out a whistle. ‘How come none of us knew about this?’ he asked genuinely curious. _Most_ people would be delighted to be acknowledged for their achievements, promotional opportunities, bragging rights, photo op…

‘I only found out by accident a couple of days ago, she was too embarrassed to let anyone know. Anyways, I talked her into going, she’s got the dress on and she’s all set, but now she’s in a tailspin of the heebie-jeebies’. Kasie rolled her eyes in exasperation and stepped back pushing him forward. ‘You’ve done crisis negotiation training, she’s all yours Torres!’

‘She’s not going to listen to _me_!’ he muttered and she saw his head do a double-take in scepticism.

‘I think you’re the _only_ person she’ll listen to Nick’ she arched an eyebrow emphatically, letting the totally clueless guy before her know she knew exactly how things were between the two agents even if they were both in denial.

She could see the witty rebuff forming on his lips but she held his eye stubbornly until he dropped his gaze. His flushed face and awkward expression said everything that needed saying. Without further prompting he moved forward and leaned against the bathroom door and tapped on it lightly.

‘Bishop… _Ellie?_ Talk to me, please’ he spoke to her soothingly, it was a tone Kasie had never heard him use with anyone else, just Bishop. ‘Just open the door. Come on this is really cool, you deserve your award! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, um _us_ , about this!’

‘It’s not a big deal Nick, ignore Kasie, I’m fine, go on home’.

_God the woman was stubborn!_

‘It sounds like a big deal to me Bishop! Come on, Kasie says you’re all ready to go, so just go, have fun! You know what they say; you only regret the stuff you _didn’t_ do’

‘I feel … _urgh_! I don’t _do_ girlie Nick, and this get-up is... _girlie_!’ she snapped back doggedly before clearing her throat. ‘You’ll laugh at me’ she muttered, apprehension evident in the slight warble.

 _And there it was!_ That’s what bullying can do to people even decades after the fact, lingering emotional scars on someone’s self-confidence that neither time nor distance can erase.

‘Why would you think something like that? I absolutely will not laugh at you Ellie, come on, you know me better than that!’ Kasie nudged him hard in the ribs, nodding with a grimace towards the door and winding her finger to indicate he up his game. She tapped on her watch, they were on the clock; complementary government car coming in like ten minutes to collect the awardee.

‘You could never look anything other than beautiful to me, B’ he added reassuringly. Kasie watched him carefully, she knew the guy had it bad for Bishop, that hard swallow and puppy-eyed look just confirmed her suspicions that it went _way_ deeper.

Another couple of minutes ticked by until they heard a huge sigh, or huff and a lot of tense, stammered oks.

‘Kasie? I’ll only come out if you're dressed and ready to go too, you promised!’ Bishop finally squawked.

‘Girl I just have to pull on my lady tux and I’m all set, two minutes max’.

‘Wait, _you’re_ her plus one?’ Nick asked, obviously disappointed.

Cue kicked-puppy look.

‘No idiot, _you_ are!’ she hissed, ‘Go, change, your tux is hanging in the back office; I got your measurements from Delilah who still has her wedding planner notebook, thank god!’

‘Whoa! Kasie, I-,’ the wide-eyed look of absolute panic flashed across his face.

‘Torres, she needs a friend with her tonight, someone to offer her moral support, can you do that for her or not? Cos I’ll step in if you're too much of a wuss!’ she eyed him with a harsh, uncompromising, challenging glare hoping his ego if nothing else would tip the balance.

She watched as he swallowed hard again, aware this was the closest thing to a real date they had ever had.

_These two will be the death of me!_

‘I’ll go change’ he stated with a determined nod.

‘Good boy! Now all I have to do is surgically remove Bishop from the bathroom’.

Cajoling, coaxing and begging failed, telling her Nick was called away eventually worked. The door opened a crack.

‘I feel stupid!’ the brainiac grown woman before her mumbled dolefully through the gap.

‘Bishop, you’re about to be given an award for literally being mind-bogglingly brilliant! Get your ass out here!’

With a huff of defeat, Ellie opened the door and glided out of the bathroom with effortless natural grace. She was clearly still oblivious that she belonged on a red-carpet.

‘Wooooowww, Bishop!!’ Kasie squealed, clapping her handing rapidly in delight.

Green was _definitely_ her colour!

They had gone shopping yesterday and eventually had picked this full length, figure-hugging, curve accentuating, sparkly emerald green gown. The demure off-the-shoulder neckline was contrasted with the midthigh high split in the fabric that showed off her killer legs as she walked in her glittery gold strappy heels. She had curled her hair into glimmering waves of champagne gold that cascaded over one shoulder showcasing all of her exposed, toned, milky-pale back. And her make-up was just past smoky subtle, resting somewhere in the region of sultry sexy.

She looked _hot_! Like mind-blowing, _smoking_ hot!

Being Bishop, she was of course still fussing and fiddling with the fabric, and she turned around before she noticed a completely gobsmacked Nick, all decked out himself but stunned into jaw-dropped, wide-eyed speechlessness at the gorgeousness before him. Kasie gave him a moment to process then lost patience and silently shoved him forward in friendly encouragement. He gave her a skittish dorky glance as he nervously clenched and unclenched his hands dangling at his sides. She watched as his eyes ran down the length of the blonde’s back, aware that he seemed to pay particular attention to her elegantly clad ass.

Finally, he took a confident step forward.

Fist-pumping with delight at her success, Kasie took that as her cue to leave.

‘Kase, can you do up the last bit of the zipper before you go change? I still think this is a bad idea, I can call them and be awarded _in absentia_ , cancel the car outside, I mean it’s not a big… deal-,’

Ellie’s voice faltered as she felt trembling, masculine fingers running down along her naked spine, from the nape of her neck all the way south until they met the tab and with a tug and rasp the zip was slowly pulled up to just at that super-sensitive area far below her shoulder-blades, low on her back where the revealing dress stopped. She shivered as the fingers stalled there, brushing her skin delicately.

Then she felt warm lips press a soft kiss her shoulder blade and her lungs froze.

‘God, you’re so beautiful’ he whispered so low she wasn’t 100% sure if she’d imagined it.

She turned around slowly to be faced with Nick, looking as sexy as hell in a black formal tuxedo.

Her face flamed with awkward embarrassment.

‘Where’s Kasie?’ she mumbled nervously, immediately knowing she’d been set up.

‘She left a couple of minutes ago. You look exquisite Ellie’ he complimented her with a slight hitch in his voice

‘Thank you’, she ducked her head shyly, her face still burning. Taking a deep steadying breath, she tried to get a handle on her nerves. Looking up she met his awestruck eyes straight on. Feeling a little braver she smiled at him, deliberately giving him an appreciative head to toe once-over.

‘Woof!’ and his face broke into a delighted smile.

‘May I have the honour of escorting you to the gala tonight Agent Bishop?’ Nick asked her formally, not a smirk in sight.

‘You may’ she answered bashfully biting down on her lip-sticked lip to control her jitters no longer caused by paralysing social anxiety but instead caused by her proximity to a hot as hell Nick and the smouldering look he gave her when he gently took hold of her hand and interlaced their fingers as they walked to the elevator.

‘You know it’s like a tedious dinner with speeches and formal dancing surrounded by boring government types right?’ she informed him wryly as they stood side by side in the lift, undeniably standing closer than they usually did, brushing against each other’s shoulders, her hand still in his.

‘You know seeing you in that dress makes me love you even more, right?’ he replied matter-of-factly.

‘Huh?’ she blurted inelegantly, turning to gape at him even as he continued to fix his eyes on the elevator doors, the hint of a tiny controlled smirk tugging at his lips.

‘You heard me’ Nick returned firmly as he gave her hand a squeeze. His thumb continually caressed her knuckles like it was the most natural thing in the world for Nick to be touching her and her heart rate skyrocketed.

‘I, um-,’ she spluttered, flabbergasted at his directness, after years of teasing and flirting, crossed wires and cross words between them. Her mind leapt through the mental gymnastics it needed to take that on board. Clarification was required.

‘Nick, do you really mean what you just said?’ she quizzed him equally as blunt.

‘I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it, Ellie. I should have told you months ago, I’m sorry for being an idiot’

Ellie took another moment to process his words before she spoke, certain the hammering of her heart would crack a rib but there was no uncertainty as she finally admitted her feelings.

‘I’ve been a bit of an idiot myself’ she confessed, returning his hand squeeze. ‘I love you too Nick’. She was quite sure she was shimmering with happiness when the words left her mouth.

He held up her hand still clasped in his own to his lips and kissed her knuckles as the doors of the elevator opened and he proudly walked with her through the NCIS front lobby to admiring glances and whistles from nameless colleagues walking by. She ducked her head down, scarlet -faced at the attention. Nick leaned in close to her, the warmth of his body radiating against her bare skin, she felt his breath on the sensitive area of her neck.

‘I think it’s adorable how easily you blush’ he whispered in that intoxicating voice of his, sending a shiver down her spine, further surprising her as his lips brushed her exposed collar bone with a soft kiss.

‘Nick!’ she moaned, in a futile attempt to chide him, as more heat flushed her face, and tingled somewhere lower down.

‘I don’t want to ruin your make-up or muss your hair now, but later _Ellie_ …’ he promised her in a low, gravelly voice meant for her ears only, his accented tongue lolling over her name. The accompanying mischievous look, the way his eyes flicked to her lips, sent tendrils of heat down low into her abdomen and a different kind of bloom across her cheeks.

‘I like it when you say my name like that, Agent Torres’ she whispered playfully into his ear, pleased with the rumbling growl that emanated from his chest when she followed it up with a deliberately slow kiss just below his earlobe. She caught him rolling his eyes heavenward, heard the whisper of muttered prayers as she let her hand frisk his ass accidentally whilst he held open the door of the black saloon waiting for them. His eyes darkened as she rolled her tongue over her bottom lip and held it with her teeth, and she smiled in triumph.

Not to be outdone he helped her in, lingeringly running his hand up the inside of her leg all the way from the ankle, up her smooth calf, over her trembling knee and stopped with a gentle squeeze way more than a tad north of ‘just friends’. He covered the brazenly seductive move creatively, taking his sweet time tucking the trail of her dress into the car. She held her breath as he painstakingly and unhurriedly pulled the seatbelt over her shoulder, letting his fingers gently trail a caress on its pathway across her breasts and abdomen to her hip, smirking just a little as he heard her hissed inhalation when he loitered a little at her thigh.

Somehow Ellie didn’t think the gala would be that tedious after all!

Once they were both settled in the backseat and the car was on the way, Nick pulled out his phone and took a selfie of them wrapped around each, faces flushed and beaming happily and sent it off to Kasie.

_‘Thank you for the nudge! From the idiots in love x’_


End file.
